French renowned actor Michel Piccoli passed away on the 12th (local time) at the age of 94. His family announced the obituary belatedly on the 18th. The cause of death was a stroke. It is reported that he peacefully closed his eyes in the arms of his wife and family.
Piccoli was a veteran actor who appeared in over 230 films over 80 years since 1945. He played various roles without distinction between popular and art films, leading the golden age of French cinema. The work that first drew global attention was director Jean-Luc Godard's Love and Anger (1963). Despite severe conflicts with his wife, he charmingly and slyly portrayed a novelist who modernizes Homer's classic Odyssey. Later, he said about this role, "I was 99% close to Godard."
Recognized for his acting skills, Piccoli consistently appeared in films directed by outstanding European directors of his time. These include Jacques Demy's Les Demoiselles de Rochefort (1967), Alfred Hitchcock's Topaz (1969), Claude Chabrol's The Wedding Party (1973), Marco Bellocchio's A Leap in the Dark (1980), Leos Carax's Bad Blood (1986), Jacques Rivette's Nude Model (1991), and Agn?s Varda's Simon's Cinema: 101 Nights (1995). Especially in A Leap in the Dark, he excellently portrayed Judge Mauro, who becomes jealous while worrying about the mental problems of his sister who raised him, earning the Best Actor Award at the Cannes International Film Festival.
He remained active as an actor even in his old age. He appeared in Nanni Moretti's We Have a Pope (2011), Alain Resnais's You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet (2012), and Bertrand Mandico's Notre-Dame des Hormones (2014), showing familiar and skillful charm. Piccoli said about good acting during his lifetime, "It is surprising people with pure expression without pretension or affectation."
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